The Ice Storm Page #7

ELENA:

(gathering her things to

go)

I'm afraid people around here

provide her with quite a bit to

gossip about.

(getting up)

Take care.

PHILIP:

That I will indeed.

INT. CLASSROOM. DAY

Mikey is reading his English paper before the class.

MIKEY:

Because of molecules we are

connected to the outside world from

our bodies. Like when you smell

things, because when you smell a

smell it's not really a smell, it's

a part of the object that has come

off of it -- molecules. So when you

smell something bad, it's like in a

way you're eating it. This is why

you should not really smell things,

in the same way that you don't eat

everything in the world around you

- because as a smell, it gets

inside of you. So the next time you

go into the bathroom after someone

else has been there, remember what

kinds of molecules you are in fact

eating.

An embarrassed silence.

INT. SCHOOL MUSIC ROOM. DAY

Band practice. The New Canaan High School band is doing a

wind version of a popular rock tune.

In front, there's Wendy, in halter top and hip-hugging bell

bottoms, incongruously blowing away on her trombone -- this

being her one stab at extracurricular activities.

In the flute section directly behind her is Sandy, piping

away on a tiny piccolo. He sits on a riser slightly elevated

above her.

He directs downward at Wendy a protracted regard, a look of

intense concentration on his face.

SANDY'S POV:

Wendy's backside, her pants pushed outward in the back,

affording Sandy a libido-charged view of the top of her bum

crack.

Push in on a close-up of this cherished abstract landscape,

then back to Sandy's furrowed face.

INT. CLUB RESTAURANT. DAY

Ben and Harold are at their table again. Lunch is being

cleared.

HAROLD:

It's not the taxes I object to.

It's all the fines and penalties.

BEN:

Alright dad. But you sold the

house, you didn't tell anyone,

including the IRS, and I'd of

certainly liked to have seen if

there was any old stuff --

HAROLD:

It was all junk!

Another pause. Ben decides not to pursue an overworked topic.

BEN:

Oh. Elena wanted to know when we

could expect you on Thanksgiving.

It's just going to be you this

year.

HAROLD:

Ben, I'm going to Florida. I hate

Thanksgiving and I hate the cold. I

have a new nurse. She's a negro,

she weighs three hundred pounds,

and I've decided to leave my entire

estate to her.

Ben spits his drink out.

BEN:

What?

HAROLD:

Jesus, Benjamin, you're still as

gullible as ever.

BEN:

That was a joke? You don't tell

jokes.

HAROLD:

I thought I'd start trying. If you

don't mind. But I am going to

Florida and I do have a new nurse.

INT. TRAIN. EVENING

Ben sits in the moving train, commuting home. He puts down

his paper to look at this fellow passengers. [NOTE: He is in

the same seat as was Paul at the beginning of the film.]

INT. HOOD DEN. DAY

Elena sits in a yoga pose.

INT. HOOD GARAGE. DAY

Elena enters the garage from the kitchen and turns the light

on.

She finds an old bicycle and pulls it out.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREETS. DAY

Elena rides her bike into town, infused with the girlish

sense of freedom she imagined for her daughter.

Suddenly, there's a pop -- a tire is blown out. She slows

down and gets off the bike. As she bends to look at the

wheel, a station wagon slows near her. The driver's side

window rolls open. It's Janey Williams.

JANEY:

Need a lift?

INT. JANEY'S CAR. DAY

Elena sits in the passenger seat. The two women are obviously

uncomfortable with each other.

Silence.

ELENA:

Thanks again. For the dinner.

JANEY:

Thanks for eating it. I don't know

why I even pretend I can cook.

ELENA:

I used to know how to cook.

JANEY:

It's not like we're too busy.

They smile, barely.

ELENA:

I'm thinking of going back to

school.

JANEY:

Social work?

ELENA:

How'd you know?

JANEY:

Educated guess.

ELENA:

I'm that predictable? No, you don't

have to answer that. It's just that

with the kids almost grown --

JANEY:

You don't have to apologize. I'm

too much of a cynic. You actually

seem to be trying to figure things

out -- don't mind me.

She pulls the car over.

EXT. FIVE AND DIME STORE. DAY

Janey's car pulls to the curb.

INT. CAR. CONT'D

JANEY:

Here you are.

ELENA:

(opening her door)

Thanks for the lift. If the bike's

any bother--

JANEY:

None at all. I'll leave it in front

of your garage. Happy Thanksgiving.

EXT. FIVE AND DIME. CONT'D

Elena watches the car pull away. She turns and walks into the

store.

INT. FIVE AND DIME. DAY

Elena moves through the aisles, putting various sundries into

a basket.

She pauses in front of the lipsticks.

She picks up a lipstick, looks at it, then quietly places it

in her pocket.

We see her reflection in the security mirror above the aisle,

as she quickly exits the store.

The middle-aged lady behind the counter watches her leave.

EXT. FIVE AND DIME. DAY

In a wide shot, from across the street, we see Elena leave

the store, followed by the shopkeeper who runs behind her and

taps her on the shoulder. They converse for a minute, and

Elena is accompanied back into the store.

Through the store windows we see her take the lipstick out of

her purse. She's obviously distraught -- offering to pay,

talking quickly, etc. The shopkeeper is holding a telephone,

not yet decided on whether to call her in.

PAUL (V.O.)

To find yourself in the Negative

Zone, as the Fantastic Four often

do, means that all everyday

assumptions are inverted -- even

the invisible girl herself becomes

visible, and so she loses the last

semblance of her power.

INT. TRAIN. DAY

Close on images from The Fantastic Four.

"HERE IN THE NEGATIVE ZONE, HIS

POWERS ARE HALVED. WE CAN DO

NOTHING BUT WAIT... AND PRAY" "BUT

WHAT ABOUT FRANKLIN? HE'LL BE

KILLED!"

Paul sits reading on his way home.

EXT. WILLIAMS HOUSE. DAY

Janey pulls up in the driveway. As she gets out of the car,

she hears a small explosion from the back of the house.

EXT. HOOD BACKYARD. DAY

Janey comes around the back to discover Sandy stuffing a

model airplane with m-80 firecrackers. He lights them and

runs back a safe distance. The plane explodes, its wreckage

joining the debris from a few other dolls, models, and toys.

JANEY:

Sandy!

Sandy looks up -- busted.

Janey marches over to him.

JANEY (CONT'D)

You little idiotic prick, you could

blow yourself f***ing sky high with

all this demented crap.

Sandy looks on the verge of tears. She softens and bends down

to him.

JANEY (CONT'D)

(sighing)

Hey.

(picking up the

firecrackers)

I'll take this stuff.

SANDY:

You going to tell dad?

JANEY:

Would it matter?

(sees something else lying

on the ground)

And what's that?

SANDY:

(sniffling)

You know, it's the whip -- the one

uncle Frank got me from Mexico.

JANEY:

It's not packed with explosives, is

it?

SANDY:

No!

JANEY:

(going into the house)

Play with the whip.

INT. WILLIAMS LIVING ROOM. DAY

Mikey and Wendy are in front of the TV, watching a rerun of

Divorce Court.

JANEY:

Oh. Hi Wendy.

WENDY:

Hi Mrs. Williams.

JANEY:

Mikey, have you heard the

explosions coming from the

backyard?

(he stares blankly at her)

Do you know what Sandy's been up

to?

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